cookies – Bila Dapur Busu Berasap

Oats Cookies

I promised my husband that I will baked his favourite Oats Cookies after raya …. and since today is a public holiday, I decided to bake them to surprise him when he comes back from work later in the evening.

Here’s the recipe for the Oats Cookies. Instead of adding diced red cherries on top, I substitute it with choc chips.

My youngest daughter already ate a dozen of the cookies 😂

Oats Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar (I reduced about 2 tbsp since I prefer it to be less sweet)
1 cup of soften butter
4 cups of quaker oats
1 cup of minced almonds
3 egg yolks
1 tsp of vanilla essence
Enough red cherries or chocolate chips for decor

Method:
1. In a big bowl, mix thoroughly the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla essence. Use a spatula to mix them.
2. Add in the oats and almonds. Mix well.
3. Use your hand to take a bit of the mixture and clump it together into a small round shape.
4. Arrange onto the baking tray and add either small cut red cherries or chocolate chips on top of the cookies.
5. Baked at 180 degree C for about 15-20 minutes or till golden brown.
6. Cool the cookies and keep them in airtight cookie bottle.

Baking, Cookies

Mixed nuts Florentine Cookies

I had the luxury of eating this wonderful nuts cookies last year during the Eid celebration and thanks to my niece for sharing this recipe which has now been in my keep as one of my favourite cookies 🙂

The recipe itself is easy to do but the only thing I would grouch is the price of the florentine flour. It is not cheap …. for a 500g packet, it cost about $11. No wonder seller are selling it by grams.

Anyway, since CNY is coming up soon, I had decided to bake this cookies for my department colleagues. I think I will also do this for the coming Eid celebration in June. Its cheaper to do on my own than buying from outside since it cost more to buy.

Here’s the recipe for the Florentine Cookies.

Mixed Nuts Florentine Cookies

Ingredients:
200 g Florentine flour
100 g sliced almonds
100 g pumpkin seeds
100 g sunflower seeds
a pinch of fine salt

20-30 pcs of alumium mould
Note: I prefer to use ths method cos its easier to peel off the cookies and it looks nice in round shape, but you could do it other ways, just google the internet and you can see other methods.

Method:
– Bake the nuts separately in the oven for about 4 mins at 150 degree C.
– Pour the florentine flour into a big bowl and add the pinch of salt. Mix thorougly.
– After the nuts are cool, add them to the flour and mix well.
– Up the oven temperature to 160 degree C.
– Scoop a spoonful of the mixture into the aluminium mould, spread them firmly and place the moulds into the baking tray.
– Bake for about 8-10 mins (depending on your oven), until it looks golden brown (not too brown alright)
– Take off from the oven and let it cool for about 2-3 mins before pushing it out from the moulds.

Using the alumium round moulds … I find it easy to use this method

Note:
1. You have to be vigilant while making these cookies as they cook very fast.
2. To peel from the mould, just turn the mould upside down onto your palm and using your other hand, press the back based of the mould.

Cool the cookes and keep them in an airtight container.

Baking, Cookies

Oats and Bananas Breakfast Cookies

The whole house smells good … hmm … yumss!!! I simply love the smell of oats and bananas that’s coming out from the oven right now. Alhamdulillah, it’s really great to be at home and be able to do a bit of baking 😉

I am now in the midst of baking the “breakfast cookies” shared by “Spend with Pennies”. It’s suppose to be a healthy breakfast cookies but I choose to bake it for a teatime instead 😉

I opt out of using choc chips since I do not have them in the house. The cookies are the kind that is soft and since no sugar are added, thus, they are not sweet yet I like the taste … thanks to the bananas, raisins and oats.

A BIG PLUS point is that this recipe is so simple.

Breakfast cookies

3 bananas – mashed
2 cups – quick cooking oats
1/3 cup applesauce
1 egg
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or any other nuts
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Method:
– Preheat oven to 190 degree C.
– Mix all ingredients in a large bow till well combined.
– Place a tablespoon of the mixture onto a parchment lined pan (or you can just use non-stick baking pan) and gently press with a fork.
– Bake for about 15-18 mins or until lightly browned.
– Cool completely.

Baking, Cookies

Sarang Semut

Biskut Sarang Semut (Ant Hill Biscuit) … don’t ask me why it’s called that hehee … what’s important is that this biscuit taste good and one of my favourite 😉

Ingredients :
250 g butter
120 g icing sugar
250 g plain flour
70 g custard flour/powder
100 g corn flour
2 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence

Chocolate rice for toppings.
enough paper cups (about 100 cups)

Method:
– Beat the sugar and butter till fluffy .
– Add in the egg yolk and vanilla essence.
– Add in the flour bit by bit till it become a dough.
– Grate the dough onto a plate with the paper cup (one by one) and those that fall off to the plate I will then scoop up using a spoon into the next paper cup.
– Add the chocolate rice on top (toppings).
– Bake for about 10 mins or till cook at 150 degree C.

Baking, Cookies

Sugee and Chocolate Almond Cookies

Did not feel like baking for the Eid, but my girls wanted me to do it so I gave in and once I started, I baked not only 1 but 4 types of Eid cookies hehee…

Below is 2 of our family favourites, Sugee and Chocolate Almond.

Sugee

Ingredients

(I modified again my sugee recipe from my previous entry, thanks to a tip I received from a sister just recently and this time can see the cracks and much much more melty-in-mouth … in fact my family members and colleagues at work gives more than the THUMBS UP!

Sis Faeez17, if you’re reading this, I hope yours turn out good and my suggestion in future you might want to try this latest modified recipe for the Sugee 🙂

400 gm of ghee (clarified butter)
3/4 full of icing sugar – using the empty ghee tin to measure
1 tbsp of condensed milk
100 gm of almond powder
1 pkt of self-raising flour – use only about 750-800 g or until you find its easy to make rounded balls with the dough)
a pinch of salt
1 tsp of baking powder

Method :

– Mix and stir well the ghee, sugar and salt
– Add baking powder, almond powder and condensed milk
– Add the flour bit by bit, until able to form a soft dough
– Make into small round balls and put into paper cups in a baking tray
– Bake at 160 degree celsius for 15 mins.

Next, is the Chocolate Almond Cookies. The recipe is here

Finally, all baked!

Baking, Cookies

Almond cookies

This is a recipe shared by a colleague and this is the first time I made them. Verdict? Really taste good but I can’t reach up to my colleague’s standard yet … her cookies looked so much more nicer 😉

Almond Cookies

Ingredients:
300 g plain flour
250 g corn flour
300 g almonds with skin (grind) – Note: you can fry the almonds without any oil for a while first, cool it and then grind them (optional)
200 g icing sugar
60 g melted butter
Enough cooking oil – pour the oil bit by bit till you can easily form into a dough (but not too wet)

1 egg yolk – beaten (for glazing) (I actually use the whole egg, don’t like to waste it)

Method:
– Sift plain flour, corn flour and icing sugar.
– Add ground almonds and mix well.
– Add melted butter and oil. Bring all ingredients together to form a dough.
– Scoop one level of teaspoon of dough and shape it into a ball (this method is if you’re using a cookie press mould like I did). Alternatively, you can roll the dough and use a cookie cutter.
– Arrange onto the baking tray.
– Brush with the egg and bake in a preheated oven at 170 degree C for 15-20 or until slightly brown.
– Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before storing.

***

Baking, Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok here’s the recipe for the Chocolate Chip cookies I baked for the Teacher’s Day. A simple recipe shared by one of my longest friend, colleague and sister, a very strong and brave woman, a woman I admire and look up to. Thank you Umm Z for always being generous with your knowledge.

One of the best recipes for Chocolate Chips I’ve reckon …. even my colleagues at work said so, what more my children 😉

Chocolate Chips Cookies

Ingredients:

Butter – 250 g
Self-raising flour – 14 oz
Sugar – 6 oz
1 egg
Milo – 2 tbsp
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of crushed cashew nuts (pound roughly)
3/4 cup of chocolate chips

Method:

Beat the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla essence, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda (beat again for few seconds). Then add egg, salt and milo. Continue beating for a minute then add flour, mix thoroughly. Finally, add the cashew nuts and chocolate chips. Mix them evenly. Scoop using either a spoon or your own fingers, arrange the cookies on the baking tray and bake at 180 degree C for 10 mins.

Noodles

Laksa Nyonya

Thanks to a friend and sister who willingly shared this recipe.

Even my 3rd sister (whom I must say is the official cook of our family) compliment me and she did it 3 times hehee….. Alhamdulillah, am just glad everyone loves it. The best reward for a cook is when what we cook is being appreciated by those who ate it.

Laksa Nyonya Sriberri

Ingredients based on a medium size pot.

1 kg Laksa noodles and 200 gm or more of bean sprouts – blanch and put aside separately

2-3 ikan kembong (Indian/Chubb mackerel) – boiled and blend the meat after deboning them. Put aside. Keep the fish stock to add to the gravy later.

2 small assam keping (Garcinia atroviridis)

5 pieces of taupoks (dry/fried beancurd) – cut into triangle shape

1 cucumber – skinned and sliced thinly (for garnishing)

Salt to taste

1 small bowl of chopped vietnamese mint (daun kesum) – use half for the gravy and half for garnishing.

1 small box of coconut milk (Kara brand)

enough water

oil

Ingredients to blend together:
15 dried chillies (soak in hot water)
3-4 onions
4 cloves garlic
3 slices of galangal (lengkuas)
2 stalks of lemongrass
an inch of belacan (shrimp paste)
1 tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp of fennel seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
3 candlenuts

Add in 1 tbsp full of fish curry powder and 1 tbsp of tumeric powder to the blended paste above.

Method:

Pour oil into the pot, fry the blended ingredients till fragrant (stir often so that the paste is not stick to the pot). Add in the vietnamese mint, keep stirring for another 5-10 mins.

Add the blended fish meat together with the fish stock. Once it has started to boil, add in the asam keping, coconut milk and water (if the gravy is too thick). Stir well and add salt to taste and the taupoks.

Once the gravy is ready, to serve, put the laksa and beansprout into a bowl, pour the gravy and garnish it with the vietnamese mint, some thinly sliced cucumber, a tsp of sambal belacan and a few quail eggs (this is my preference, but you can also add in boiled prawns or sliced fishcake).

ok that’s all for the recipe … that was what we had for iftar just now.

Also, besides the laksa, we had the opportunity to enjoy the cookies baked by my 4th SIL. Yummylicious hmmm 🙂

Thank you Didi, these are delicious especially the cornflakes cookies 🙂

and we also received these cookies from my 3rd sister ….

Alhamdulillah rezki 🙂

Cornflakes, suji and kuih bangkit …. Lovely 🙂

Baking, Cookies

Night baking

Finally, I am able to sit down. Time to cool off after being in front of the hot stove. Today’s menu for the family is just rice and black pepper beef. Kids’ favourite and easy to cook dish.

Yesterday, after work, as I was walking home, I decided to try out the choc chips cookies recipe from my colleague. This recipe was given to me months ago and only now I tried it out.

So the kids and I, we did night baking together. My eldest and youngest had no choice but to help because our electric mixer went missing on me hehee 😉

So the creaming was done by hand … we took turns to do it and though the cookies turn our well, I think with an electric mixer it would have been better.

On another note, looks like it’s time to get a new mixer. Maybe should hint hint to my daughters to get it for me as a birthday present 😉

Okay back to the cookies, verdict from my gals and my husband (who had just came back from work and had just popped 3 cookies into his mouth) …. “Very GOOD!” 🙂

Close up on the choc chips cookies ….

Manage to get more than 3 dozen ….

I think if I did not stop the kids from eating these yesterday, it would not lasts till today …hehee

Ok here is the recipe for these choc chip cookies :

Ingredients :

1 cup white sugar (can be less if prefer less sweet)

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or any other nuts you prefer, I used cashew nuts)

1-2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 and half cups only)

Methods :

– thoroughly cream sugars, butter, oil, egg, milk and vanilla

– add dry ingredients, nuts and chocolate chips

– drop by teaspoons onto baking tray

– bake at 175 degrees C for 10-12 minutes or till cookies are brown nicely.

Baking, Cookies

Almond Sugee Marathon

From Friday to Saturday …. 2 days in a row, I have been spending my time trying out 3 different types of Almond Sugee Cookie recipes. Thus the title above … a marathon cos its one recipe after another. 2 of the recipes I got them from the internet and the last one is a recipe from my 3rd sister.

Why am I making all these cookies? Cos Lunar New Year is coming … it is an annual event that will have me baking something for my manager. It is my annual gift to her ….to celebrate the Lunar New Year as well as an opportunity for me to say ‘thank you’ to her for always being a supportive RO.

Almond Sugee – 1st recipe

Ok the first recipe I tried was from this link : http://resipicitarasawan.blogspot.sg/2009/05/suji-almond.html (the recipes in Malay), so here’s the translation :

Ingredients :

150 gm butter
30 gm ghee (clarified butter)
80 gm castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
50 gm almond powder
60 gm semolina flour
220 gm plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

Method :

– Mix and stir well the butter, ghee, sugar and vanilla essence together.
– Add the flour, semolina flour, baking powder and almond powder. Knead to become a soft dough.
– Roll the dough and use a cookie cutter to cut out and put on the baking tray. (I did not do these, instead I make them into ball shape and put into paper cups)
– Bake at 140 degree celsius for 30 mins.

(Optional : glaze egg yolk on top of biscuits and sprinkle some diced almonds before putting into the oven)

My verdict : The nicest looking among the 3 cookies, taste great but it’s not the melt in the mouth kind of sugee cookie. I still give my thumbs up!

When it’s ready to fill up the cookie bottle … yumss!

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Almond Sugee – 2nd recipe

The 2nd recipe comes from this link : http://www.roseskitchenette.com/2007/01/24/almond-suji-cookies/

The recipe is in English so can just copy and paste the link for those who would like to try this version.

My verdict : Defintely melt in the mouth …but the dough is too soft and I could not make them into nice looking round shape. Still I consider this a good recipe to have.

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Almond Sugee – 3rd recipe

The 3rd recipe I almost got it right except for an error listed in the recipe (a typo by my BIL hehee), the cookie did not taste as good as it should be. I know its taste cos every year my 3rd sister would bake these sugee for the Eid celebration. By this time, I was too tired to try again. So I’m leaving it as it is. Will try again maybe next time. Oh yes! this sugee cookie is also the melt in the mouth kind and frankly tasted better than the 2nd version.

There … that wraps the Almond Sugee Marathon 😉

Below is the recipe for the 3rd sugee cookie :

Ingredients :

454 gm of ghee (clarified butter)
300 gm of sugar powder
1 tbsp of condensed milk
100 gm of almond powder
1 pkt of self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
1 tsp of baking powder

Method :

Khalas!